


every lonely place

by sakabelle



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Loads of Harry Angst, M/M, University AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 03:57:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3342782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakabelle/pseuds/sakabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't supposed to go down like this.</p>
<p>The plan was for Harry to sweep Niall off his feet and break his heart. And yeah, maybe it was a little mean, but Harry's used to Louis being a little mean. Besides, Niall is a little annoying, so it balanced out. But he wasn't supposed to develop feelings for Niall, and Niall certainly wasn't supposed to find out it was all on account of a dare and stop speaking to him.</p>
<p>No, this is the exact opposite of how it was supposed to go. And now, Harry's got to get Niall back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	every lonely place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Efflorescence_Amour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Efflorescence_Amour/gifts).



> For Efflorescence_Amour, who asked for, "It was all because of a dare AU! Harry was dared to sweep Niall off his feet and then break his heart but of course along the way he falls head over arse for Niall and to keep it Valentines Day themed perhaps it all comes out on Valentine day! As much angst as possible in this, please break my heart but also please a happy ending." I hope you like it!! 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, everyone ♥~

“So it was all a dare?” There are tears glistening in Niall's eyes, but he gulps down a breath of air, desperate to not let them fall.

“Yeah, I mean no, I mean... I guess in the beginning.”

“Brilliant,” Niall mutters, both about the dare and the fact that he's failed to not let himself cry because those tears he was clinging to just a moment ago are now running down his cheeks. “Just brilliant.”

“Niall,” Harry reaches out to him. 

“Save it,” Niall spits out. “Just save it, Harry. And let me save what's left of my dignity. Christ.” He shoves his hands into the pocket of his jumper and turns around, walking off.

And Harry really has no choice but to watch him go.

**Two Weeks Earlier**

“You need a good shag,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair and resting his head on Liam's shoulder.

Harry rolls his eyes. Not this again. 

“You spent all of last semester being the third wheel,” Louis says, glancing around. They're sitting in a cafeteria at Oxford, griping about their classes for the semester. Well they were, until Louis turned it into a gossip fest. Which he somehow always manages to do.

“I'm really not bothered.” Harry shrugs, because he's really not.

“But you are. You'd be so much less uptight if you had a boyfriend. Or at least a good shag. Or at least some fun.”

“I'm not uptight.”

“He's really not,” Liam cuts in.

“Still needs some fun. Come on, there's got to be someone around here you can seduce. I mean, with those green eyes and curls and your cute little smile.”

“Are you sure that someone's not you?” Liam asks with a smirk.

Louis swats his chest. “Of course it's not. But it could be anyone else. I mean even...” he glances around and his eyes fall on a blonde boy standing in line to pay for his lunch. Which consists of two cheeseburgers and a massive plate of chips. “Even him.”

Harry turns around to see who Louis is talking about. “Niall Horan?” he raises his eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Louis laughs. 

“Who's Niall Horan?” Liam asks, raising his eyebrows and glancing at both Harry and Louis for an explanation.

“Oh my god,” Louis laughs. “He's so weird, Liam. He was in our English Lit class last semester and he's in our Spanish class this semester.” He waves his hand between himself and Harry. “I mean, look at him. His hair is bleached that horrible colour – why doesn't he just keep it brown?”

Harry can't help but smirk a little bit. Even if Louis is being kind of a prick. But that sort of comes with the territory of being his friend.

Louis just keeps babbling on. “He's literally eating all the time. He always had food with him in class, and look how much he's got on his plate! And he's so tiny so he probably pukes it all up. And he's got this weird obsession with Justin Bieber. And he's always wearing footy shirts but is he on the school team? No. Probably didn't even try out.” 

Liam shakes his head, but he smiles all the same.

“You could totally seduce him,” Louis laughs, and then his eyes light up like he's got an idea. “Oh my god, you should totally seduce him.”

“I'm not going to seduce him, Lou,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. The last person in the world he wants to sleep with is Niall Horan. 

“How do you even know he's gay?” Liam asks, giving Louis a look.

Louis quickly waves him off. “Please. No lad is that obsessed with Justin Bieber and straight.” He turns his attention back to Harry. “You should do it.”

“No, come on Louis.”

“I think you just don't think you can,” Louis sighs, rolling his eyes and smirking just a little bit.

“Of course I can. You said it yourself that you could. I just don't want to.”

“Well prove it. Seduce him and break his heart. It'll be fun. You're supposed to break a few hearts in Uni anyway and by my count you've only broken one.”

Harry rolls his eyes. “You mean Taylor? She doesn't count. I told her I was gay and not interested. If she took that any other way it's her own fault.”

“All the more reason then. Go break Horan's heart. It'll be hilarious.”

“It's sort of mean,” Liam says, looking at the two of them.

“Did you have to sit behind him and listen to him crunch on crisps all through class for the past four months? No you didn't. It's not mean. Go on then, Harry. I dare you.”

Harry sighs. Liam's right – it is pretty mean. But it'll also shut Louis up about him needing a shag and it'll probably keep them entertained for at least part of the semester... and Niall really did annoy him in class last semester. And he probably will this semester as well.

Those justifications swirl through his head as he gets up out of his chair and walks over to where Niall's sitting.

Louis giggles to himself while he turns his head to watch Harry go.

Harry gulps as he looks at Niall. He's just sitting there, headphones in his ears and his mouth full of food.

His blue eyes are bright though, and he's smiling about whatever he's reading on his phone. So maybe this won't be so horrible.

“Hey,” Harry says, looking down at Niall.

Niall doesn't hear him. Probably on account of _Boyfriend_ blaring into his ears.

Harry rolls his eyes and knocks his fist down onto the table.

Niall looks up from his phone and raises his eyebrow like he's confused. But he pulls out his headphone all the same. “Hi... Harry, right?”

“Yeah,” Harry says. “Hi. Mind if I join you?”

“Uh... sure? You don't have any food though... want some chips?”

Harry glances down at the mountain of chips on Niall's plate. “No, that's alright.” He sits down in the chair across from Niall and looks at him. There's an awkward silence.

Maybe this won't be as easy as Louis thought.

“What're you listening to?” he asks.

“Justin Bieber.” Niall grins. “So sick, man. I know people don't think he's good, but he's really talented. Do you like him?”

Or maybe it will be.

“Yeah, um,” Harry lies. He doesn't care much for Justin Bieber, but he can probably fake it. “I like One Time. And Baby.”

“Ah,” Niall waves his hand. “That's old stuff. If you like that you gotta listen to his _Journals_ album. Really sick stuff.”

“I'll have to check it out. Or maybe we could listen to it together... my dorm, tonight?”

“Uhhh...” Niall says, looking at Harry. “Yeah, sure.”

“Great,” Harry says. “It's room 1508 of Northwood II. I'll meet you there tonight at seven?”

“Yeah,” Niall replies, watching Harry stand up. “See you tonight, Harry.”

It's almost too easy.

* * *

It's 7:01 and Harry's sitting impatiently on his bed in his dorm room. Louis is gone for the evening – staying with Liam on the instruction “Remember, you're supposed to _seduce_ him.”

He taps his foot on the ground. It's awful what he's about to do – pretend he likes this boy all to just save face in front of Louis. Sure Niall's annoying and weird and bothersome in class but he doesn't deserve this.

Of course he doesn't have to know. It can be a quick shag and that can be it. Harry nods to himself. Yeah, sure, that's it. It's not so bad. And it's not like he smells or anything so the thought of banging him isn't completely disgusting.

There's a knock at his door. No turning back now.

“Hey, Harry,” Niall says, shuffling into the room as soon as Harry opens the door.

“Right,” Harry says, scratching the back of his neck. “Hi.”

They stand there for a couple of seconds until Niall breaks the silence. Not shocking. He pulls his iPod out of the pocket of his jumper. “Ya got speakers or something?”

Oh. Right. The Justin Bieber album. Not exactly prime seduction material, but it'll have to do. “Yeah,” Harry says, taking the iPod from Niall and plugging it into the little unit on the bedside unit. Niall's got the album all ready to go – so all Harry does is press play.

Harry doesn't know what he was expecting, but this music sounds like the other songs he knows.

Niall sits down on Harry's bed, closes his eyes and hums along to the music. Then he starts singing softly. “ _Don't tell me I'm a heartbreaker...”_

Harry bites the inside of the cheek because this is completely ridiculous and now Justin Bieber is talking over the horrendous beat.

Niall opens his eyes and grins. “Isn't it good?”

Harry forces a nod. “Yeah. Yeah, really good. Hey, are you thirsty?”

“Ah yeah,” Niall says. “Parched actually.”

“Cool,” Harry says, walking over to the mini-fridge that they're not supposed to have in the room. He pulls out two bottles of Sprite and hands one to Niall. 

“Nice jumper,” he says, looking at Niall before he takes a sip of his drink.

Niall downs a third of the bottle before coming back up for air. “Ah, thanks. Chelsea your team then?”

Harry shakes his head. He doesn't care much for football – any knowledge he has of the sport is from Louis broadcasting his opinions to anyone who'll listen. “Not really. I suppose they're yours though?”

Niall shrugs. “I like 'em a fair bit, yeah. Derby County's my favourite though. I suppose I also like Real Madrid... any good football's good with me!”

Harry raises his eyebrow. “You're not on the school team, are you?”

Niall's smile slightly fades. “Nah. Love the sport but I can't play. Messed up my knee when I was fourteen and that was that.”

Harry makes a mental note to tell Louis about that so he stops using Niall's false obsession with football as a reason to hate him. “Sorry to hear that.”

Niall shakes his head. “S'fine. Isn't this song sick?”

Harry hasn't even been listening, but as far as he can tell this song sounds like all the other ones. “I like the guitar.”

“Me too!” Just like that, Niall perks up again. “I've been learning it actually. Shoulda brought my guitar, d'ya play?”

“No.”

“Could teach ya one day. It's not hard.”

Harry nods. Maybe that'd actually be fun – and what the hell? Is he actually sitting here enjoying listening to Justin Bieber with Niall Horan?

Well, maybe not the Justin Bieber part. But the Niall part more than makes up for the whiny vocals in the background. His smile is adorable and Harry can't put his finger on it but there's something nice about him.

He finds himself actually wanting to kiss his happy little lips.

“Can I kiss you?” he blurts out instead of just going for it.

Niall blinks a couple times, obviously surprised by Harry's question. “Uh, yeah. Yeah. Course you can, Harry.”

“Brilliant,” Harry whispers, leaning into the word and into Niall's face. Their lips touch slowly, and brush against each other for a couple of seconds before it turns into a full on kiss.

Harry keeps his eyes closed through all of it. It's sort of a shame, he doesn't get to see Niall's bright blue eyes through it. But his mouth tastes sweet – probably on account of all the sprite he's just drank. 

He hears Niall sigh into their kiss, and he shuffles to get more comfortable on the bed.

Harry's not sure how far he can go with this – but Niall seems to be enjoying it. Hell, Harry's enjoying it too. Even if they're both just sitting here super awkwardly. Better change that.

Harry slides his hand onto Niall's thigh. He pulls away a bit cautiously and looks at him.

“It's fine,” Niall says, swallowing a little. His cheeks are flushed and his lips are red and Harry's heart pounds in his chest. He can't believe this is actually happening. That he actually wants this to happen.

Niall leans back on the bed and Harry crawls on top of him. It's almost too easy, the way they fit together. Harry leans down to kiss Niall again, wanting more and more of him.

Fucking Louis, maybe he really was onto something. Maybe Harry really does need to get laid.

Niall moans softly underneath him when Harry starts to leave pecks on his neck. Yup, he definitely needs this. And obviously Niall needs it too, because he's writhing underneath Harry. 

But he doesn't just need sex – he needs Niall. He pulls Niall's shirt off faster than he normally would have because he was anxious to see more of his creamy white skin. And he pulls Niall's jeans and pants off because he really needs to know the shape of his cock.

And he thrusts inside of him harder than he normally would have because he needs to feel Niall's warmth around him.

“Harry,” Niall pants from underneath him, gripping his arse and rocking along with him. “Jesus.”

Harry just grunts in response. This is ridiculous. And that ridiculous Justin Bieber record is still playing in the background, but a chunk of Niall's bleach blonde hair has come loose from its quiffed prison and has now fallen onto his forehead and-

“Shit, Niall,” Harry moans, his brain turning to white noise and his toes curling. He grips Niall's shoulders as he comes, biting the inside of his lip.

Niall's quick to follow, reaching in between their sweaty bodies and pulling at his cock until he's coming also, Harry's name falling out of his mouth.

“Jesus,” Niall breathes after a couple of moments. “That was... I wasn't expecting that,” he laughs.

Harry looks up from his resting place on Niall's chest. His eyes are bright blue and his cheeks are bright red. He's positively adorable, being freshly fucked. And all Harry wants to do is go for round two.

But that'll have to wait until he regains a bit of energy. So he just smiles at Niall and kisses him on the cheek. “Me neither.” His heart flutters inside his chest. No... he definitely wasn't expecting that.

* * *

“Smells like sex in here.”

Those are the words Harry wakes up to hours later. It's dark in the room – probably around two in the morning. He blinks a couple of times before peeling his eyes open.

Louis is standing in between both of their beds with his hands on his hips.

“Fucked him then?”

“Uh,” Harry stammers out while a memory of Niall's sex face flashes in his mind. “Yeah.”

“Obviously.” Louis rolls his eyes and sits down on his own bed. “I told you it would be easy. How was it then?”

“Was alright,” Harry says, even though it was more than alright. But it's late and he's tired and he just wants Louis to shut up so he can go back to sleep. And if he says any word about actually _liking_ Niall Horan, that definitely won't happen.

“You kick him out afterwards, then?”

Harry shakes his head, his eyes still heavy with sleep. “No.”

“Ah right. Get a few more shags in before you break his heart. Good plan, Harry. Well, goodnight.”

If Harry wasn't so tired, he would have rolled his eyes. Instead he just rolls over and falls right back to sleep. Right back to dreaming about Niall.

* * *

“Hey Harry,” Niall says, greeting him the next morning with a bright smile when Harry and Louis enter Spanish class. “I got you a bagel.”

Harry smiles back at Niall and ignores Louis's snort. “Thanks.”

Niall grins even bigger when Harry takes the bagel from him. Harry sits down next to him, and he's thankful when Louis stays behind and sits at the back of the room like he usually does.

“So,” Niall says, shoving a bite of his own bagel into his mouth. “I was wondering if you wanted to come round my room tonight. Could teach you to play a bit of guitar, if ya like.”

Harry smiles. He can't help but glance back up at Louis, who's watching the two of them with a smirk on his face. He gives Harry a thumbs up, and Harry turns his attention back to Niall.

“Well, obviously your friend thinks you should do it,” Niall laughs.

“Yeah,” Harry says. This isn't a big deal – and it actually works out well. He can go and chill out with Niall tonight and Louis can think it's all a part of the plan. He'll tell him eventually, just not right yet. “Alright - “

He's cut off by their professor standing up from her desk and beginning the lecture. But he wants to secure their plans so he leans over and whispers in Niall's ear.

“I'll meet you at six?”

Niall nods, scribbling down the number of his dorm room before giving the lecture his full attention. Well, maybe about ninety percent of his attention. The bagel gets the other ten.

* * *

They play guitar for about eight minutes before they end up another tangled, sweaty mess. Only this time, it's different. This time, they're on Niall's bed.

Harry rolls off of Niall after a couple of minutes, laying on his side and facing him. How is it that two days ago he found this boy to be the most annoying person on the face of the planet and now... well, now it seems he can't get enough of him.

“This is mad,” Niall laughs, his bright smile shining through his wide mouth. “I didn't even know ya knew who I was.”

“What?”

Niall shrugs his shoulders (as much as he can, anyway, being on his back and all). “You and your friend just sat in the back of the class not really paying attention to anyone in English Lit last semester. And at the beginning of this year it was the same. Didn't think you had any interest in being my friend.”

“I didn't think you had any interest in being my friend,” Harry replies, because it's basically true. He can leave out how he used to roll his eyes every time Niall opened a bag of crisps.

“I'm interested in being anyone's friend, really,” Niall says, but then he rolls over and kisses Harry on the mouth. “But em, I think we're a bit more than that, yeah?”

Harry takes a deep breath. This is not how this was supposed to go. And yet here he is, his heart pounding as he looks at Niall's hopeful face. “I dunno,” he drawls, kissing Niall softly. “You tell me.”

Niall giggles a little bit as Harry rolls back on top of him, obviously gearing up for round two. This isn't supposed to be happening. He's supposed to be working on breaking his heart – and now he can't bear the thought. Two fucking days in and he'd happily keep this going for... well, a long time.

It's probably fine, Harry tells himself as Niall nips at his skin. Niall never has to know that this started as a stupid dare from Louis.

* * *

“How's it going with blondie?” Louis asks two days later. He sits himself down at their regular table in Costa and breaks Harry's concentration in the process.

“Fine,” Harry mutters, squinting his eyes down at the paper he's writing to show Louis that he's _concentrating_ and that he doesn't want to be _bothered._

It doesn't work. It never does. “What're you doing with that notebook? You realise that this is 2014, right? Laptops have been invented.”

Harry darts his eyes up at him. “I know,” he says. “I find it easier to get the words out this way.”

Louis shrugs and rolls his eyes. But before Harry can get back to his work, he opens his sassy mouth once again. “You never answered my question.”

“I'm writing a paper.”

“Not that question you twat. The other one – how's it going with blondie?”

“I did answer that,” Harry says with a sigh, snapping his notebook shut. He's never going to get anything written with Louis sitting here anyway. “It's going fine.”

“Fine? That's all I get after I'm the one who started this whole prank?”

Harry shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. He's not about to tell Louis anything else and he's not about to allude to any broken hearts either. Maybe is he just keeps it going with Niall, Louis will forget all about this stupid prank. Soon enough he'll move onto something else, anyway. Louis never stays fixated on one thing for long.

“You can't actually be enjoying his company,” Louis snorts, covering his mouth with his hand.

Harry sighs again. He probably should tell Louis – but he's not really interested in the sarcastic comments or the laughing. It's none of his business anyway. 

“These things take time,” he says instead, being as vague as possible to get Louis off his fucking back.

“I suppose,” Louis sighs, picking Harry's notebook up off the table. “I was just excited, you know. I'm also getting sick of sitting in Spanish alone. What in the bloody hell is this? The Motivating Effect of Fair Trade Coffee on Campus?”

“It's for my Ethics class.”

“You're an idiot.”

* * *

“To be fair, I'm not really into Justin Bieber,” Harry laughs, as he fails as picking yet another chord on the guitar. A week later, and they're sitting on the floor of Niall's dorm room again. Only this time they've managed to keep their hands off each other and are actually focusing on the guitar.

“What?” Niall claps his hand to his chest as if he's shocked. “I thought you liked Justin Bieber. He's the very basis of our relationship, Harry.”

“I just used him to get you into my room.”

“I knew it,” Niall laughs, rolling backwards onto the floor before scrambling to pick himself up.

Harry smiles. It's like Niall gets more adorable the more time they spend together. Like he lets more of himself out. 

“So what kind of music do ya like then?”

Harry contemplates that for a second. “Do you know The 1975?”

“No.”

“Kodaline?”

“No.”

“Jake Bugg?”

“No.”

“The Radio Dept?”

“I think you're just making up names.”

“I'm not!” Harry insists, pulling out his phone and playing a song by The 1975.

Niall wrinkles his nose as he listens to it. “It's whiny emo rock.”

“It is not.”

“It is,” Niall says, standing up and stretching. “But I could probably figure out how to play it if ya want. I'm gonna need some coffee first though. We can even go to that Fair Trade cafe ya like.”

Harry grins, standing up and following Niall out of the room. “Alright. My treat.”

“Obviously.”

The two of them walk in silence to the coffee shop. It's brisk outside – not unusual for England in late January. Harry glances over at Niall. He's obviously cold, no gloves on his hands or anything. They're just shoved into his pockets. 

Harry shoves his own gloved and into Niall's pocket, trying to keep his boyfriend's hand warm.

Niall looks up at him and beams. It's not a far walk from his dorm to the coffee shop, but it's enough. He leans his head against Harry's shoulder as they walk. 

It's snowing a little bit, flakes falling and disappearing in Niall's fair hair. Harry reaches over and brushes them out and Niall looks up at him with a smile. His cheeks are red but it's alright – they're basically at the coffee shop now.

“Harry,” Niall says, his voice shaking. Initially Harry thinks it's from the cold air, but he quickly realises that's not it. “I know it's only been two weeks... but I think I love you.”

The words stick in Harry's throat. But before he can say them back – because he most definitely can say them back – there's a loud howl of a laugh from behind them.

“Oh my god.” It's Louis, and Harry can't help but roll his eyes. Trust him to show up and ruin a moment. 

Louis just continues to giggle.

“Go away, Lou,” Harry says, glaring at him.

“I can't believe you let it get this far with him,” Louis says, still standing there in a fit of giggles. “He _loves_ you.”

“I don't really understand what's funny,” Niall mutters, but then he turns his attention to Harry. “And you haven't, you haven't... um...”

“Of course he hasn't said it back,” Louis cuts in, just as Harry glares at him again. “You didn't think someone like _him_ would actually fall for someone like _you_ , did you?”

Harry's heart pounds in his chest as he looks down at Niall. Niall just looks confused, his eyes darting from Louis back up to Harry.

“Unless you did,” Louis goes on, looking at Harry. “Unless this stupid prank ended up with the joke being on you.”

“Shut up, Louis.” Harry says, but it's too late. Niall's already looking up at him with wounded eyes. It's not Harry's favourite look on him.

“Prank?” he asks, pulling away from Harry, his blue eyes glassing over.

“No.”

“Yeah.” Louis shrugs, giggling again. “I dared him to shag you and toss you. I mean, I guess he did half of it.”

“So it was all a dare?” There are tears glistening in Niall's eyes, but he gulps down a breath of air, desperate to not let them fall.

“Yeah, I mean no, I mean... I guess in the beginning.” Harry stammers out. He's going to punch Louis in the face.

“Brilliant,” Niall mutters, both about the dare and the obvious fact that he's failed to not let himself cry because those tears he was clinging to just a moment ago are now running down his cheeks. “Just brilliant.”

“Niall,” Harry reaches out to him. 

“Save it,” Niall spits out. “Just save it, Harry. And let me save what's left of my dignity. Christ.” He shoves his hands back into the pockets of his jacket and turns around, walking off.

And Harry really has no choice but to watch him go. Then he turns to Louis. “What the fuck?!”

Louis shrugs. “Oh, like it's a big deal. You should have been honest with him anyway.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Harry nearly shouts. “It is a big deal, Lou. I'm fucking in love with him and he probably just walked out of my life. I was going to tell him about the stupid dare, okay? But it was up to me, not you.”

“Alright, sorry,” Louis shrugs, looking anything but sorry. “Guess you'd better go after him then.”

Harry wants to scream. He wants to yell and he wants to shove fucking Louis to the ground. He almost wishes he hadn't agreed to the stupid dare in the first place... if only so he wouldn't have to witnessed the pained look on Niall's face. 

But he doesn't do any of those things. Because as much as he hates to admit it, Louis is right. He's got to go after Niall.

“You're such a twat,” is all he says to Louis before running off in the direction of Niall's dorm.

He doesn't run into Niall on the way, but that's alright. He knows well enough where his room is. He stands in front of it and knocks on the door.

No answer.

“Niall,” Harry says firmly, knocking again.

Still no answer.

Harry sighs in frustration. How could he have been so stupid? He should have just told Niall. Or he should have just told Louis – not that that would have changed anything. Louis has a big mouth at the best of times so even if he would have known this probably still would have all happened.

Harry presses his ear to the door to see if he can hear Niall. But he doesn't hear anything. He sighs again, figuring Niall has probably decided to go deal with this somewhere else.

And since they've only been dating for two weeks (which seems crazy to think about now) he has no idea where Niall might've gone to de-stress.

So he just turns around and goes back to his own dorm.

* * *

The next day, Harry sits down in what's become his regular spot in Spanish class. He glances back at the door to the lecture hall. Louis is sitting in his usual spot near the top, but Harry avoids looking at him. He still hasn't spoken to him since the night before, and he's not about to give him any sort of eye contact now.

So he just keeps his eyes on the door until Niall walks inside. 

After a couple of minutes and worries that he won't show up – he does. He walks into the room wearing his Derby County jumper, with his backpack slung over his shoulders.

Harry waves to him, but Niall just ignores him and goes to sit somewhere else.

Harry sighs and slumps down into his chair. He knows better than to go bother Niall before class starts. So he just sits there for ninety minutes while their professor drones on about verb agreement.

Finally the bell rings and class is over. Harry gathers his things (not that it takes long, he started closing them up when there were five minutes left) and rushes over to Niall.

“Hi,” he says.

Niall glances up at him as he shoves his MacBook into his bag, but he just looks annoyed.

“I'm sorry about yesterday,” he tries again.

“I'm sure you are,” Niall replies, slinging his bag over his shoulder again and turning to leaving the room.

“Come on, Niall,” Harry practically pleads, following him. “You gotta teach me how to play The 1975 on guitar, remember?”

“Don't gotta do anything.”

“I'm sorry,” Harry tries again, gently touching Niall's shoulder. “Let me make it up to you.”

Niall shrugs away from him. “You can make it up to me by leaving me alone.”

And just like the day before, Harry has no choice but to watch him walk away.

* * *

“He's really pissed off,” Harry says while he stares at the ceiling later that night. Liam and Louis are sitting on Louis's bed, watching a movie on his laptop.

Louis glances over at him. “I'm sorry, are you talking about yourself in the third person now?”

“I'm talking about Niall.”

“Oh,” Louis says, pausing the movie. “Well, obviously. I mean, you did lie to him.”

Harry gives him a look. “It's your fault, you can't keep your big mouth shut.”

“You just learned this about him?” Liam cuts in, and Louis jabs him in the side.

“It is not my fault – well, maybe a little bit. But you probably should have told him it was all supposed to be just a joke in the beginning. Or at least told me that you actually fell for him.”

Harry ignores that. Placing blame isn't really going to help him anyway. What's done is done. “You have to help me get him back.”

“No way,” Louis says, pressing play on his movie again.

“I'm serious,” Harry continues, sitting up on his bed. “You're at least partially responsible for this mess, so be a good friend for once and help me get my boyfriend back, yeah?”

“Just give him some space,” Liam says, and Harry raises his eyebrow.

“I'm serious,” Liam nods, looking at Harry. “He's really upset right now, you won't be able to reason with him. Let him cool off for a couple of days, and then try to talk to him again.”

Louis points at Liam. “That's actually a good idea.”

Harry sighs. He supposes it is. “Yeah,” he says begrudgingly. “Alright.”

* * *

The next two days are two of the most excruciatingly slow of Harry's life. He goes to class and sits with Louis – just like he used to do. 

But he spends most of it staring at the back of Niall's head instead of actually focusing on the lectures. Niall only turns around once – and it's not even to look at Harry. It's because another student was walking in late and not exactly being quiet about it.

He sees Niall in the cafeteria as well. Just the same as he always had before – sitting by himself and listening to music while eating his lunch.

It takes everything Harry has to sit with Louis and Liam and not get up and go join Niall. 

“Stop staring at him,” Louis snaps at one point. “You're beginning to creep _me_ out.”

Harry shakes his head, but drags his eyes away from Niall all the same.

That night, he actually lays in bed with his iPod blaring Justin Bieber. Mouthing along to the lyrics (sadly, he knows a lot of them now) he imagines Niall laying next to him. Perhaps he's sleeping, breathing in long, deep breaths. His chest would be rising and falling, his blonde hair probably a dishevelled mess.

Harry opens his eyes and sighs. Niall's not beside him, and the only noise in the room is Louis snoring beside him.

He stuffs his iPod under his pillow and rolls over, attempting to get to sleep.

* * *

On the third day, Harry decides that's been enough time for Niall to cool off. Liam said two days, right? So there's no reason that he can't go pay Niall a visit and attempt to explain everything.

Besides, it's Saturday so it's not like he'll get the chance to look at him in class. If he doesn't go seek him out, it's unlikely he'll get to see him today. 

So he gets ready, making sure to wear the plaid shirt that he knows Niall likes and his loafers that are a little tamer than the boots he knows he hates. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he walks the twenty minutes from his dorm room to Niall's.

And then he stares at the door for a minute before knocking. Because it's a very real possibility that Niall will open the door and then slam it closed. But at least if Niall opens the door Harry will have a chance to say something before it gets slammed. And Niall won't open the door unless Harry knocks, so...

He knocks. And then he waits.

Nothing.

Harry rolls his eyes, but just as he's about to knock again, the door opens. Only it's not Niall on the other end, it's someone else Harry doesn't recognise. A taller boy with darker skin and dramatic cheekbones. As opposite from Niall and anyone could get, really.

Must be Zayn, Niall's roommate. Which makes sense – Niall always said he liked to stay out late and Harry's never been round Niall's dorm this early.

“I,” Harry starts, his breath catching in his throat. “I'm uh, here to see Niall.”

“He's not here,” the boy says shortly, giving Harry the once over. “But even if he was, reckon he doesn't want to see you.”

“Do you know where he is?” Harry asks, ignoring Zayn's second question. He's well aware that Niall doesn't want to see him – that's why he's so keen on fixing everything. 

Zayn shrugs. “Nope.”

Harry sighs. He's sure Zayn probably knows where Niall is – the question is how to get it out of him. 

“Look, I'm really sorry-” Harry starts, about to launch into his whole speech. It's obvious Zayn knows the whole story, judging by the way he's looking at Harry with an unamused raised brow.

“Look, I'm not going to tell you where he is, mate.” Zayn shrugs, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and stepping out into the hall, letting the door close behind him. “You love him so much, figure it out on your own. He's a good person. Doesn't deserve to be hurt like this.”

“I never meant to hurt him,” Harry mutters. 

Zayn shrugs again and starts to walk away. “Still doesn't mean he deserved it.”

“I know that,” Harry says to no one but himself. He doesn't need the lecture from Zayn. Because Zayn's only heard Niall's side – and yeah, Niall's probably right to be upset. But he doesn't understand that it wasn't intentional and even though they got together because of the bet it doesn't mean that it wasn't real.

Because it had to be real. It felt real. And Harry thinks, no, he knows that it felt real to Niall too.

And standing outside of Niall's dorm room, it's like a light goes off in Harry's mind and he darts out of the hall, down towards the parks and over to the small football pitch.

Sure enough, there's Niall by himself, wearing a Derby County jumper and kicking a ball around.

“Thought you couldn't play,” Harry says, because it's the first thing he can think of and opening with “I'm sorry,” is really beginning to get tiresome.

“I can kick a ball around.” Niall doesn't look up, just keeps dribbling the ball with his feet and eventually kicking it into the goal. He throws his arms up, pumping them for a moment before retrieving the ball from the net.

Harry watches him from behind.

“I'll play with you,” he offers, even though he really doesn't care much at all for footy. He'll do it for Niall though. Hell, he'd do anything for Niall.

Except not break his heart, apparently.

“No thanks.”

“Niall,” Harry tries again, that desperate tone finding its way into his voice. So much for being calm about this. 

“Just go away, Harry,” Niall says, finally turning to look at him. “Can't you just leave me alone?”

“No.” Harry shakes his head, walking towards Niall. “I can't. I'm sorry. I love-”

“Don't,” Niall cuts him off, glaring at him. “You don't. You don't do shit like that to someone you love. Christ.”

“I didn't!” Harry protests. It's cold out and this is sad and pathetic. “Louis did it. He's the one who showed up laughing, he's the one who came up with this whole idea. I didn't do anything to you!”

“Right,” Niall scoffs. “I don't actually care about that. You didn't do anything, great. But you were going to. That was the whole plan, wasn't it? To fuck me and throw me away like yesterday's trash? But then you ended up actually enjoying yourself. Lucky me.”

Harry just has to stand there and listen while Niall walks towards him. If he wasn't so upset, it'd almost be funny. Because Niall's tiny and hardly intimidating.

“The problem here, Harry, isn't how I found out about this. It's that I can't imagine spending another second with someone so fucking heartless that they'd even agree to do something like that in the first place.”

“I'm not heartless,” Harry mutters, his mouth dry. It's all he can get out because Niall's right. He knows he's right, and that's the worst part of all this.

Niall just shrugs his shoulders and turns around, kicking his ball back into the goal. He doesn't pump his arms this time, just runs back over to retrieve it.

Harry shakes his head, gulping down some of the cold winter air. Turning around, he walks off of the pitch and back in the direction of his own dorm.

* * *

“That's fucked up,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair. Instead of their usual spot at the coffee shop, they're sitting in a pub on campus. Because apparently, Harry looked like he needed a drink.

At least, that's what Liam said when he and Louis found Harry moping in his dorm room that afternoon.

And that's why he's nursing a pint of Carlsberg an telling Louis and Liam the whole story of what happened with Niall that morning. He doesn't even like beer and he has no idea why he let Liam order one for him. If he's going to drink his sorrows away, he should have at least picked something that was enjoyable going down.

“You only think it's fucked up because it was your idea.”

“It was a good idea.”

Harry catches Liam's eye and tries to give him a look. Liam nods his head in obvious agreement. 

“I mean, you can't have thought no one would get hurt.” Liam tries to reason, nudging Louis a little.

“Of course I thought he was going to get hurt! That was the bloody point.”

Harry takes another swig of his beer and gives Louis a look. He sort of wishes he could scream at him and slap that smug look off of his face. But he's so tired of being angry and sad that he just sits there. That, and he knows Louis is only being overly defensive because he feels guilty.

Which is fucked up, but if he stopped hanging around with Louis on account of him being a prick they'd have stopped being friends a long time ago.

“Just help me get him back,” Harry mutters, lowering his head into his arms.

“Oh come on,” Liam says, patting him on the head. “You haven't even had that much to drink. Your beer is still half full!”

Harry just groans.

“He'd probably forgive you if you could fix up his knee.”

Harry actually lifts his head up. “What?”

“You said he's got a banged up knee, right? That's why he can't play football? So maybe if you fixed up his knee he'd forgive you.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” On the list of stupid things Louis has said... well, this isn't even close to the top, actually.

Louis shrugs and takes a sip of his drink. “It was just a suggestion.”

“A bad one.”

“Alright, alright,” Liam says, cutting in before this becomes another exchange between Harry and Louis like has happened so many times in the past. 

Harry leans back in his chair and studies his drink. How did he get here? Sitting in the pub feeling like the third wheel with Liam and Louis? He never used to feel like the third wheel with them before. He never cared about being alone before.

Not until alone meant being without Niall.

He sighs. _Again._

“That was quite the sigh,” Louis laughs, leaning his head on Liam's shoulder.

Harry just shrugs. Because what else can he do? He can't very well fix Niall's knee and he hasn't got any other ideas.

“Valentine's Day's coming up,” Liam says, nodding his head a little bit.

Harry rolls his eyes. “You don't need to remind me, thanks.”

“No,” Liam says, not faltering. “I mean that you could use that. It's on a Saturday this year so... you could take him out.”

“He won't even speak to me, Liam. How am I supposed to take him out?”

“Maybe you don't have to go with him.” Louis shrugs, raising his eyebrows like he couldn't care less. But Harry knows that he does – otherwise he wouldn't have opened his mouth at all.

“Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?”

“No,” Louis protests, shaking his head. “Make plans for him. Send him to a football match or something, I don't know. They usually play on Saturdays.”

As soon as those nonchalant words leave Louis's mouth, Harry jumps up out of his seat. “You're brilliant,” he whispers, and a wide smile spreads across his face. “You're fucking brilliant!”

He has no time now to sit around a mope with Louis and Liam. He's got a plan – well, kind of. He grabs his coat from the back of his chair and rushes out of the pub to start putting things into motion. He hears Louis shouting about how he's got to pay him back for that drink but he doesn't care.

This is definitely going to get him Niall back.

* * *

One week later, Harry's standing outside Niall's dorm room again. Only this time, he strategically walked by the park first to make sure Niall was on the pitch and not in his room. Sure enough, he was.

He knocks. Then he waits.

And like clockwork, Zayn opens the door again.

“Doesn't want to see you, mate,” Zayn says with a cigarette hanging lazily on his lips.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry says. He doesn't have time for this. He thrusts out his hands, which are full of papers. “Can you just make sure he gets this?”

Zayn raises a thin eyebrow and looks down at it. “What's this? Train tickets to Derby?”

Harry shrugs. He'd go back and forth on thinking it was a terrible idea if he wasn't so sure that it was the perfect idea. “Yeah.”

Zayn keep inspecting the paper before looking at the other one. “And a football ticket.”

“Yeah.”

Zayn folds the papers in his hands and tucks them away before giving Harry a look. And Harry has to hand it to him, this guy has the contemplative look down to a science. He briefly wonders what his interactions with happy-go-lucky Niall must be like, and then his heart skips a beat. If his plan works, if he gets back together with Niall then he'll most definitely find out.

“So you'll give it to him?”

“Yeah,” Zayn says with a bit of a shrug. “Yeah I'll give them to him.”

“And you'll tell him to meet me there?”

Zayn looks back down at the ticket. “Derby's Niall's favourite club.”

“I know.”

“If I tell him you're going to be there he probably won't go. But it'd be nice for him to go see his favourite club on, Valentine's Day, huh? You must really want him back.”

“I really do,” Harry says through almost gritted teeth. This is so close to working. It _has_ to work.

“Right, well I'll give them to him. Good luck and all that.”

“Thanks.” Harry breathes a sigh of relief when Zayn nods to him and closes the door. Now all he has to do is wait. Just for one week. Then he'll have Niall back. As long as he keeps believing that, all this mess will be worth it.

* * *

The next seven days are even worse than any of the days that came before it. 

Of course, over the weekend Harry doesn't see Niall at all. He makes a point of staying away from anywhere he knows Niall will be – which is mainly the park and the cafeteria. He forces Louis to bring food to him – which he begrudgingly does. Another sign of guilt. Even if he'll never admit it, and he certainly hasn't apologized.

Niall shows up to Spanish class just like he usually does – and Harry considered skipping it. He really did – but his grades are already slipping in that class due to Niall's stupid blonde head, so he figures he better not.

Instead, he convinces Louis to sit up at the front of the class so he doesn't have to stare at Niall's wispy blonde hair and brown roots and wonder when he's going to cut and colour his hair again or if he's going to let it grow out.

He's probably be okay if Niall grew it out and didn't dye it again. And when they get back together he'll be sure to tell him that.

There's also a lot of Justin Bieber in those seven days. Lots of laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling and listening to _Nothing Like Us_ or dancing around his dorm room to _Beauty and a Beat._

But finally, the alarm goes off on Saturday morning.

Of course, Harry's been tossing and turning for much of the night. Glancing at the clock every hour or so, waiting the clock to flip to 6:30 so he can jump out of bed, grab the bag he packed the night before and head for the train station.

Which is exactly what he does. He's so eager that he gets there half an hour earlier than he needs to be. Which means more waiting, and more tapping his foot on the ground.

He glances around nervously. Niall's not supposed to be here yet so there's no reason for him to panic about not seeing him. Still, his heart pounds in his chest and his stomach twists nervously.

Because what if, after all this, Niall doesn't show up?

He can hardly bear the thought. If Niall doesn't show up he doesn't know what he'll do, and he supposes then he's really got no choice but to get over it. 

He takes a deep breath. No sense thinking about that now. Niall's train isn't scheduled to leave yet – he's supposed to be on the next one. So worrying won't do him any good and there's no reason to believe that Niall won't show up.

All he's got to do is wait. And the seconds tick by even slower than they did in the days leading up to this one.

* * *

Harry actually manages to sleep for part of the train ride to Derby. He wakes up feeling bleary eyed but it's gone after a matter of seconds, because the worry that Niall won't show up is quick to return.

His plan doesn't end up working as well as he would have liked. They don't let people into the football grounds until a certain time, and he's there far, far too early.

He rolls his eyes settling for a croissant and a drink from a nearby cafe while he waits. And waits. And waits some more.

By the time he's let in and finds his seat, his stomach leaps into his throat. Caught off guard, Niall's sitting exactly where he's supposed to be. It's almost unbelievable.

So Harry just sits down beside him. Niall glances over and shakes his head before returning to his phone.

“Figured it'd be you.”

“Yeah?” Harry can't help but smirk a little. “Then why'd you show up?”

“Free train ride and a ticket to the rams.” Niall shrugs his apparently cold shoulders, but Harry's still smiling. It could have been worse. He could have decided not to come altogether.

“So it was a good present then.”

Niall doesn't respond. Just continues scrolling through whatever he's scrolling through on his phone.

But Harry doesn't let up. This is finally his chance to talk to Niall and get him to come around and make everything right. He's not about to blow it.

“Can I get you a pint or something?”

“Can't drink pints while we're in our seats.”

“So come to the concession and get one with me.”

Niall just gives Harry a look and Harry knows he's taken it too far. He slumps down in his seat, deciding to give it a rest with Niall for a little bit and pulls out his phone.

They sit in silence for a few minutes (as silent as can be, anyway, in a crowded football stadium). It's debilitating – this is almost worse than the days leading up to it. Because Niall's sitting right here beside Harry, but he still won't speak to him and he still won't - 

“You made me look like a fool, you know.”

Harry glances over at Niall, almost surprised he actually started the conversation, and chose to go straight to _that_ topic.

“What?”

Niall rolls his eyes. This sarcastic, irritable side of Niall isn't Harry’s favourite. But he supposes he deserves the attitude he's getting. 

“You made me look like a fool. I told you I loved you.” Niall leans down closer to Harry, lowering his voice to a whisper. “And your friends were there waiting to laugh at me. I poured my fucking heart out to you and it was all a joke.”

Harry bites the inside of his cheek. Apologies haven't been working, and Niall's assessment of the situation isn't exactly fair so he decides on another approach. “You didn't pour your heart out to me, you told me you loved me.”

“And what exactly do you think those words mean?” Niall snaps, his accent clicking on every word. “Obviously you don't know.”

“I do know,” Harry insists, reverting back to desperation. This is so, so pathetic and now it's awkward too given that they're surrounded by people. “Of course I know. Why do you think I've been apologizing to you every chance I get these past couple of weeks? Why do you think that even though you won't even speak to me I'm still trying to make things right between us? I told off my friends, and I told you I'm sorry and I spent a lot of fucking money to get you all the way here just so you could have a nice Valentine's Day and not spend it all by yourself in the park kicking a ball around and feeling sorry for yourself.”

Niall leans back in his seat and raises his eyebrows. The match is starting, but Harry knows that's not the whole reason. Niall probably doesn't have a counter to what he said.

Which is a good thing. Maybe. Harry's heart is pounding in his chest, anger and hurt starting to bubble up to the surface. He can't even concentrate on the match – not that he'd really be able to if all this drama with Niall wasn't happening anyway. 

So he just sort of sits there, his arms crossed over his chest while he watches the match. Occasionally he glances over at Niall, especially when something exciting happens. Which Harry only realises is the case because everyone in the stadium cheers or gasps.

Including Niall. It's strange, actually. Once the match gets underway it's like his mood did a complete one-eighty. And it's hard not to smile watching him shout and get into the match. This is the Niall that Harry came here to see, and this is the Niall that he needs to have back in his life.

And even if Niall won't admit it, it seems like it's working.

Forty-five minutes go by and apparently it's half-time. 

“Pint?” Harry tries again. 

The smile fades from Niall's face just a little bit and he wavers a little bit. But then he gives in.

“Alright. Sure.”

Harry smiles and the two of them make their way down to the packed concession area. It's surprisingly quick for them to get a couple of pints, and they stand off to the side and tap their plastic bottles together.

“Did you see that shot right before half-time? Jesus Christ, I thought I was going to choke on my own tongue,” Niall says, his eyes wide while he shakes his head and takes a sip.

Harry raises his eyebrow. He probably did see it but like anything else in the game he really has no idea what it looked like. “I can't believe they played for forty-five minutes and the score is still nil-nil.”

Niall narrows his eyes at Harry. “It's been intense though. Great, great football.” Another sip of his pint. A chug, really. Half of it's gone already.

“Uh huh,” Harry says, taking a sip of his own beer. At least Niall's speaking to him, even if it's about something he has no knowledge about.

Niall finishes his own beer and tosses the plastic bottle into the bin. “Come on,” he urges, motioning for Harry to finish. “They'll start again soon. Gotta drink fast.”

Harry nods his head and sucks the rest of his beer down as fast as he can. Before long, they're back at their seats and the match is starting again.

It's a whole lot of the same as the first half. A lot of gasping, a lot of shouting and a lot of Harry not understanding what's going on.

The silver lining is that Niall seems to be in a far better mood. Just watching him makes Harry feel better too. And Niall actually looks over at Harry anytime something happens on the pitch, either smiling wide or shaking his head and motioning over to where the action is so Harry can understand.

Eighty-nine minutes on the clock and the score is still nil-nil. How a non-scoring game can be so exciting, Harry's sure he'll never understand.

Until there's another shot on goal and the ball actually goes into the net. The crowd screams, jumps up and before Harry realises what's happening Niall's lips are on his.

“Mmph,” he mutters when Niall pulls away.

“Sorry,” Niall says, still smiling wide, his teeth showing and his eyes bright. “I just... I didn't think.”

“It's okay,” Harry says, moving in to kiss him again amidst the excitement of the crowd and the celebrations on the pitch. “I'm sorry,” he whispers in between kisses.

“Mmm.” Niall pulls away, glancing around. The clock is up and the match is over and people are beginning to filter out of the stadium. He grabs Harry's hand. “We better get moving so we don't get stuck in the crowd. Come on.”

Harry doesn't care about the crowd. He doesn't care about the long train ride they have back to Oxford and he certainly doesn't care about the chanting happening around him.

The only thing he cares about is Niall's warm hand holding his own. And they stay that way on their entire trek out of Pride Park.

“So... back to Oxford, then?” Harry asks once they're far enough away from the action. “Is this... are we?” he also asks, because he can't not and the words won't stop themselves. He has to know. Even though it should be obvious.

“I... yeah.” Niall squeezes Harry's hand, squinting his eyes. “Yeah.”

Harry takes a deep breath. He almost can't believe his plan actually worked. “I'm sorry,” he says again, just to solidify it. “Really.”

“It's alright,” Niall says, nodding his head. “You're friend's an arse, though.”

“Believe me, I know,” Harry laughs. But he can't help but feel a little grateful to Louis. After all, if it wasn't for the stupid prank he wouldn't be standing here with Niall. He'd still be under the impression that he was an annoyance and not his perfect match. “I love you,” he says seriously.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Niall says, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I can't believe you let it get this far. You _love_ me?”

“Hey,” Harry very nearly whines. “I was trying to have a moment.”

“I know,” Niall laughs. “And I was trying to get you back for the moment that I was trying to have. Oh, and I love you too, you fool.”

Harry smiles, leaning in to kiss Niall. Their lips touch and Niall wraps his arms around Harry's neck. They probably could have done without the couple of weeks of despair, but Harry's certain there's no other way he'd rather be spending Valentine's Day.


End file.
